Category: Invertebrate
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Asteroidea
Family: Asterinidae

Notes
Very common species with colour variations from orange-red to blue, yellow and green. They usually have five arms but animals with four to eight arms are common. It is found from mid tide to 30 m deep. Scavenger that feeds on both on living and dead organisms such as barnacles and microscopic algae. This star can live for ten years and is an introduced pest in Tasmania. Cushion stars breed during summer, researchers have watched them in Otago Harbour releasing thousands of sperm and eggs at the same time.


References
Native Sea Stars : Barraclough Fell A Guide to the Plants and Animals of the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre: McKinnon